Album Review: Meat Puppets - Up On The Sun

I am going to start a new line of therapy this Spring.  It’s going to be called “Meat Puppets Therapy,” and it works something like this- 

Patient-            Dr. Greg, I am oh-so depressed.  Can you help me?

Dr. Greg-         Yeah, I guess.  Here is a copy of Meat Puppets II.   Please listen to this album twice daily, and do NOT exceed the recommended dosage.  Failure to comply will result in an overdose of rocking. 

(different scenario)

Patient-            Dr. Greg, Meat Puppets II isn’t working for me.  What should I do?

Dr. Greg-           Here is a copy of Up On the Sun.   Listen to this album AT LEAST once a day.   There is no maximum dosage, just don’t come complaining to me when you find yourself experiencing an overdose of rocking.

Patient-            But Dr. Greg, you are a therapist.  I am SUPPOSED to come to you for you to help me with my problems!  You get PAID for it!

Dr. Greg-         Oh yeah. 

(different scenario)

Patient-            Dr. Greg, neither Meat Puppets II nor Up On the Sun have been working for me.  Am I a lost cause?

Dr. Greg-         Not yet, but you are really screwed up in the head.  God, what the hell is wrong with you?  Oh wait, I mean, here is Live in Montana.             

Few things have impacted my life as much as the Meat Puppets album, Up On the Sun.  With its beautiful melodies, lazy and laid-back feel, and its creative lyrics, this album is one of the greatest I have ever heard.  Being the follow up album to Meat Puppets II, it must have been difficult to try and create something to live up to such standards.  However, I often feel as if this is a much better album.  Although part of the appeal of Meat Puppets II was the unpolished-ness, I greatly appreciate the polishing the Puppets did do for Up On the Sun.

            The opening track, which is also the title track, Up On the Sun, sets the scene for the album.  Immediately the listener knows that this album has a different feel than II or even I, which I hear is nothing but the Puppets geeked on acid making weird noises with their guitars, mouths, and small children.  The riff in this song so appropriately fits the two chords that it is centered around- a technique which the Meat Puppets patented in the mid-80’s.   It is immediately evident that Curt Kirkwood, who now looks much like a pirate (I met him in December) learned how to sing for this album.  We liked the scratchy-off key vocals, but too much of it would’ve caused us headaches and emotional trauma.  Thankfully, the band took singing lessons from Bob Dylan on this album, and their voices improved tenfold.

            The song “Up on the Sun” is the classic lazy groove that the Puppets love.  The two chord song structure grounds the song, adding to the imagery while the band sings about living up on the sun: “Up on the sun where it never rains or snows/ there’s an ocean with a wind that never blows/ and if you see it closer than the finer points will show/ not too much more/ too much more.”  This chorus is such a classic.  The band sings it in such a happy drone that the lyrics make one legitimately want to be up on the sun (where it never rains or snows).  This is one of my favorite songs of all time.  Although II may have a larger number of good songs, the songs on Up On the Sun kick more ass than any song should, unless written by Neil Young.

            “Maiden’s Milk,” the second track, features another dynamic that the Meat Puppets are big fans of- the gratuitous tempo change.  Starting off with a major-scale riff, the song quickly goes into a funkadelic break down with a significant tempo change.  Thus far into the song the listener gathers the fact that the song is most likely instrumental, but has a slight sense of doubt.  Then the song takes an ultimate twist when the brothers Kirkwood begin whistling in harmony.  It makes one want to laugh, but not really.  It just makes them feel happy to be alive.  As if this wasn’t good enough, Curt whips out a fabulous one-note solo a la Neil, and we all almost wet ourselves.

            The following three tracks, “Away,” “Animal Kingdom,” and “Hot Pink” are very similar.  All of them are centered around two chords while the bass line decides to do as it pleases.  Somehow, the two instrumental parts coincide beautifully.  The lyrics in these songs are stellar, featuring such lines as “up in my head there’s an animal kingdom/ I am the king of the animals there.”  The Puppets sometimes have goofy lyrics, but they never fail to amuse the listener by provoking thought or by providing quirky images, which is a significant part of the music created by these musical gods.

            If you haven’t caught on by now, or haven’t read enough of my reviews to tell, you should know that I don’t exactly review every song on each CD.  In fact, sometimes I leave an entire half out.  But I don’t want to spoil all of the fun for the listener, and I would much rather discuss the songs that have special meaning to me, personally.  So back off.

            If you were having any doubts about how cool the Meat Puppets are, I will now put an end to your dubious mindset.  Few things in the world are cooler than a band who has a song entitled “Swimming Ground” and a song that sounds very, very much like it's entitled “Not Swimming Ground.”  I’m glad that they put forth the effort to make this distinction.  It has enriched my life greatly.  Oh yeah, it’s also pretty damn sweet, too.